Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune PharmacologyJul 25, 2016

New targeted drug delivery methods for brain tumors inspired by nanobiotechnology

mRNA Technology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Apr 4, 2026

Abstract

Nanotechnology-based delivery systems may improve the effectiveness of anticancer agents by facilitating their passage across the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

The blood-brain barrier is a selective barrier that limits the delivery of most anticancer agents to the brain.
Nanovehicles can be designed to carry anticancer agents across the BBB and into the central nervous system (CNS).
Surface modifications of these nanovehicles with specific ligands may enhance their ability to cross the BBB and accumulate in brain tumors.
Recent advances in nanobiotechnology are focusing on improving drug delivery strategies for brain tumors.
The review discusses the physiological and anatomical features of brain tumors and the BBB, as well as current and future delivery approaches.

Simplified

At present, brain tumor is among the most challenging diseases to treat and the therapy is limited by the lack of effective methods to deliver anticancer agents across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). BBB is a selective barrier that separates the circulating blood from the brain extracellular fluid. In its neuroprotective function, BBB prevents the entry of toxins, as well as most of anticancer agents and is the main impediment for brain targeted drug delivery approaches. Nanotechnology-based delivery systems provide an attractive strategy to cross the BBB and reach the central nervous system (CNS). The incorporation of anticancer agents in various nanovehicles facilitates their delivery across the BBB. Moreover, a more powerful tool in brain tumor therapy has relied surface modifications of nanovehicles with specific ligands that can promote their passage through the BBB and favor the accumulation of the drug in CNS tumors. This review describes the physiological and anatomical features of the brain tumor and the BBB, and summarizes the recent advanced approaches to deliver anticancer drugs into brain tumor using nanobiotechnology-based drug carrier systems. The role of specific ligands in the design of functionalized nanovehicles for targeted delivery to brain tumor is reviewed. The current trends and future approaches in the CNS delivery of therapeutic molecules to tumors are also discussed.

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New targeted drug delivery methods for brain tumors inspired by nanobiotechnology

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